Balzac’sHistoire de la grandeur et décadence de César Birotteau (1837) may stand as one of the most paradoxical works of La Comédie humaine. George Saintsbury, writing at the end of the nineteenth century, offered a seemingly contradictory appraisal of César Birotteau, suggesting that readers need be gifted with a kind of physical stamina to finish this text, before conceding that César Birotteau abounds in the ‘pulse and pant of life,’ and remains ‘one of Balzac’s best, if not his very best’(1896, x). This novel, which René Guise has called ‘une œuvre privilégiée’ (Balzac 1976–81, VI, 3), and which Alexandre Péraud suggests stands at the ‘centre géometrique de la La Comédie humaine’ (2012, 206), was criticized by early readers for its length, its ‘superfluité des détails’ (Balzac 1976–81, VI, 29), and the challenges posed by the detailed narrative of César’s descent into (and return from) bankruptcy. Critics’ equivocal assessment of this novel may simply be echoing a contradiction expressed by Balzac. It is clear, on the one hand, that César Birotteau held an important place in Balzac’s imagination, as attested by his two appearances in the Avant-propos to La Comédie humaine. Here, Balzac evokes the ‘infortunes des Birotteau’ – César, and his brother, the ‘curé de Tours’ – suggesting that their troubles ‘sont [...] celles de l’humanité,’ and offers César and his wife as examples of virtuous characters. (It bears noting that the Avant-propos offers no mention of central characters such as Eugène de Rastignac, Lucien de Rubempré, or Vautrin.) On the other hand, as late as 1846, Balzac, reflecting on this character in a letter to Hippolyte Castille, describes him as ‘un boutiquier assez bête, assez médiocre, dont les infortunes sont vulgaires’ (quoted in Vachon 2000, 315). The creation of this novel offers its own contradictions, and is marked by a long gestation, followed by a short period of frenetic writing. Balzac claims that he spent more than six years thinking about this work, initially conceived of as part of the Études philosophiques (1976–81, VI, 20), only to finish it in some haste to meet a publishing deadline for the Figaro, which offered the novel free to its subscribers. Edward Ourliac, writing in the Figaro shortly after the novel was completed, expresses a kind of awe for the speed of Balzac’s production, describing César Birotteau as: ‘un ouvrage de deux volumes, un tableau immense, un poème entier composé, écrit et corrigé à quinze reprises par M. de Balzac en vingt jours’ (quoted in Vachon 1999, 84). Despite its rather curious title, César Birotteau shares similarities with many other works of the Comédie humaine: this story of a bourgeois perfume maker riddled with debts and facing bankruptcy recalls the pecuniary vagaries and concerns that play a

中文翻译：

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“拿破仑大帝的祝福：塞萨尔·比罗托的au昧声望”

巴尔扎克（Balzac）的塞萨尔·比罗特（CésarBirotteau）的《大帝与历史的历史》（1837）可能是《喜剧人》（LaComédie）胡马因作品中最矛盾的作品之一。乔治·圣斯伯里（George Saintsbury）写于19世纪末，对塞萨尔·比罗托（CésarBirotteau）提出了看似矛盾的评价，建议读者必须具备一定的体力才能完成本文，然后再承认塞萨尔·比罗托（CésarBirotteau）在“脉冲和喘气中”比比皆是。 ”，并且仍然是“巴尔扎克最好的人之一，即使不是他最好的人”（1896，x）。这本小说被勒内·吉塞（RenéGuise）称为“上等特权”（Balzac 1976–81，VI，3），而亚历山大·佩罗德（AlexandrePéraud）则建议他站在“法国喜剧电影中心”（2012，206）。它的长度及其“superfluitédesdétails”（Balzac 1976–81，VI，29）是早期读者，以及塞萨尔（César）陷入破产（以及从破产中回归）的详细叙述所带来的挑战。评论家对此小说的模棱两可的评价可能只是在回响巴尔扎克表达的矛盾。一方面，塞萨尔·比罗托（CésarBirotteau）在巴尔扎克的想像力中占有重要地位，这一点很明显，这是因为他两次出现在《喜剧人》（LaComédie）《胡曼》中。在这里，巴尔扎克（Balzac）唤起了塞萨尔（César）的“ Infortunes des Birotteau”和他的兄弟“旅行社（curéde Tours）”，暗示他们的麻烦“人道的地牢”，并以塞萨尔和他的妻子为例。品德高尚。（值得注意的是，Avant-propos没有提及诸如Eugènede Rastignac，Lucien deRubempré或Vautrin之类的中心人物。）另一方面，直到1846年，巴尔扎克（Balzac）在写给希波利特·卡斯蒂利亚（Hippolyte Castille）的一封信中，他将这个角色形容为“无聊的驴子”（引自Vachon 2000，第315页）。这部小说的创作有其自身的矛盾之处，其特点是经过长时间的酝酿和短暂的疯狂写作。巴尔扎克声称，他花了六年多的时间思考这部作品，最初是作为《Études哲学》（1976-81，VI，20）的一部分构想的，但是为了赶上《费加罗报》的出版截止日期，他匆忙完成了这项工作。向订户免费提供了这本小说。爱德华·奥里亚克（Edward Ourliac）在小说完成后不久在《费加罗报》中写道，他对巴尔扎克的创作速度表现出敬畏之情，他将塞萨尔·比罗陶描述为：“作品数量不多，画面不拘一格，作词不完整，écritetcorrigéquinze报废了M. de Balzac en vingt jours（引自Vachon 1999，第84页）。尽管塞萨尔·比罗托（CésarBirotteau）的头衔颇为古怪，但它与《喜剧》（Comédie）《豪迈》的许多其他作品都具有相似之处：这个资产阶级香水制造商负债累累，面临破产的故事让人想起了金钱上的变数和担忧，